Thread: First restore in progress--Dubl Duck Perlduck

you can mail order the fine sand papers from a custom woodworking shop....... i
have at my house 400/800/1000/2400/3600/4000/6000/8000/12000........

i have to pay for the 8000-12000.... the rest i get at work... for FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just realized that the blade I've been working on for the last week has a slight frown in it! This can be honed out, right? Please say yes.

Also, I have progressed through the grits up to 12000. I'm underwhelmed to say the least. I will wait and see what happens when I finish with mag polish tomorrow, but I'm thinking from now on I will order up to 1500 and them finish with mag polish. Much more seems to be pointless for my level.

Originally Posted by medicevans

I just realized that the blade I've been working on for the last week has a slight frown in it! This can be honed out, right? Please say yes.

Also, I have progressed through the grits up to 12000. I'm underwhelmed to say the least. I will wait and see what happens when I finish with mag polish tomorrow, but I'm thinking from now on I will order up to 1500 and them finish with mag polish. Much more seems to be pointless for my level.

Since the frown was developed by honing it is
possible to hone it out or hone it as it is.

The WiKi has a number of articles on honing
you should be able to find them. You can
also do a google "site" search.

site:/straightrazorplace.com frown hone

Try some modified X strokes after marking
the edge and spine with a magic marker.
If your hone gets to the entire length
of the razor you should be able to hone
the edge. The magic marker is your friend
for this task.

As long as your hones are flat and you begin
each honing session with systematic straight
hone strokes the frown will eventually
go away.

A frown will also be reflected a little or
a lot on the spine. Since there is more steel
on the spine you could go crazy and
try to change it quickly but that could
cause more problems so go slow and
use the magic marker on both the
spine and the edge.

Keep your hones close to flat and it
will correct itself.

My two recent DublDuck rescues had a frown like yours.
There is a lot of steel in the way of making the edge 'perfect'.
Go slow... and use a magic marker to help.

man, that is coming out beautiful!! Your doing a great job.. Even up to trying your own scales!! I'm impressed, I can't even come close. I buy NOS german scales whenever, wherever I can. I have not the skills to make my own scales and I applaud your attempts.

Looking very good!! Keep us posted!

M

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

As long as your hones are flat and you begin
each honing session with systematic straight
hone strokes the frown will eventually
go away.

hi nifty, am I understanding this correctly that it isnt necessary to proactively take the frown out, but rather let it come out w/ proper honing?

Well, more developments. And like most things, there's some good, some ok, and some bad.

1. Bad: I messed up the smooth finish when I tried to reprogress through the sandpaper from 600 through 12000. I now have freaking tiny scratches that weren't there before. I have to go back to 1500 and go from there and try to get them polished out.

2. Ok: Changed mind, again, about the wood selection for the DD and the Shumate Barber (next resto) scales. See Good below.

3. Good: I looked at a couple of places online for wood blanks, but I hate paying $12 shipping on $15 worth of stuff, so today I started calling around to some local woodworking shops. I found one that had quite a few different exotic slabs, but they were way across town and I only had half an hour before I had to pick my wife up from the doctor's office. I was pulling around the block when I saw this little unassuming building with little bitty letters that said "Smalley's Woodworking.". I doubt the building had been painted or the signage updated since the late 70's or early 80's. I found Mr. Smally in back amongst the most well appointed wood shop I've ever seen. I asked him, a perfect stranger, for some off cuts of hardwoods. He started digging and just kept coming up with more and more wood! I kept thinking in my head "How much is all of this going to cost!?" When he got done stacking I asked what he wanted for all the wood. He asked me what I though a fair price was. I only had $7 in cash on me and something told me this guy didn't take Visa. I offered him the $7 and he took it! We got to talking about woodworking and knife making (he also makes knives) and I spent a pleasant 20 minutes with the old man. He is a true craftsman in the Purest sense of the word. I am definitely going back to pick his brain a little more one of these days. I think I made a new friend. He invited me back to his shop to show him the scales when I finished them. All in all a really cool guy.

The wood is pictured below, top to bottom:
1. Rough cut curly maple
2. Lyptus, I have no idea what that is but it's really open grained like oak.
3. Cherry
4. Mahogany
5. Oak
6. Walnut
7. Walnut

One of the pieces of walnut is very nicely figured. I think that's the piece I'm going to use for the Shumate. I'm thinking the maple for the DD.

Oh man, what a great find to come across. It never hurts to stop in and chat, does it!!

That is some fine looking wood grains there. Good luck man!! Show us more when you can!

M

Originally Posted by esse

hi nifty, am I understanding this correctly that it isnt necessary to proactively take the frown out, but rather let it come out w/ proper honing?

It is not necessary to take the frown out if you
can hone it to your shaving satisfaction.

The frown your blade seems to have is one
that would develop over years of happy shaving.
It tells me that your razor is a good one
and if you can find a stroke that mates
well with your hones you are good to go.

By using the magic marker trick you can
see if the edge is fully engaged as you hone
it. If the result is yes then hone it up.

Also to proactively remove the hone you are
going to remove a lot of good steel.

We cannot tell from here if a 4k/8k is all
you need or if you need a 1k or even
coarser hone to reestablish the bevel
and finish the edge. The odds are that
a rolling X will do the trick.

On the occasions I feel compelled to remove
a frown or smile I have found that a well worn
coarse DMT had value. All my water stones
will depart from flat a lot if I set out to reshape
a good hard razor with them. I start out
by lifting the spine a lot and worry the edge.
When the edge is a good straight line I switch
to a progression of water hones.

Caution: aggressive honing on a thin blade
can cause it to crack and chip.

The first step -- audition the hone
and your razors to see if a modified
stroke does the trick.

Got the rod and some washers for my scales. Now I have to decide what wood I want to us for the scales themselves. I'm really torn. I think using the rough cut maple would be a lot of fun considering how the rest of the resto has gone, but that walnut is really calling too. I think the walnut would really be showed off better on a >6/8 razor as the scales would be bigger. The cherry is intriguing too. Really I think it's come down between the maple and the cherry.

Anyone have any opinions? Remember, the pins and washers are NiAg. I would like a nice contrast.

Well, went ahead with the rough cut maple. I just couldn't pass it up. I really need a table saw or a radial saw rather than the compound miter I used to cut this slab. Use what ya got (or in this case, borrow) I guess.

I know what I will need to get for next time for sure.

Picture captions
1&2: The big chunk I started with.
3. The big chunk stained to see what the wood looks like stained. I liked it, so I went ahead and used the maple.
4. The slab ripped in half and them stuck together with carpet tape. The pattern was then traced onto it.
5. Scales rough cut. This part reminds me of what someone said about razor making. Just trace the pattern then cut away everything that doesn't look like a razor. Same thing here.
6. Pretty much done here. Have a little bit more sanding to do. Then stain! Getting closer here!